Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome what the Minister said at the outset, that is, that he will consider this matter and hopefully find a pathway to allow Sofia to travel to Ireland. I genuinely hope he will be able to find that pathway as quickly as possible. It is specifically a matter of allowing passports for genuine cases in these instances until we have legislation in place. It is not a catch-all. As always in law, there will be exceptions or complications, and this is one of them. It falls between the cracks. I genuinely believe the Minister will examine this.

As the Minister stated, what is at issue is the interpretation of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. That was produced in a different era, an era long before some of the reproductive methods in question were in place and when we, as a society, had not addressed the issue of same-sex couples. It is not just same-sex couples who are caught in these circumstances; heterosexual families can also get captured. I have outlined why we have addressed this and the relevance of next May. I thank the Minister. I hope the matter will be addressed over the weekend and that there will be a positive outcome.

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